The present invention relates to an automation system for creating and adapting a machine or system model that is used to check control programs of an open-loop control using a virtual machine or a virtual system. The present invention also relates to a method for simulating the machine or system that is controlled by the control program.
It is known in the related art to emulate machines and systems using machine/system models and a software program, in order to simulate the machine or system.
Complicated measurements and analyses must be carried out in order to transfer the behavior of the machine or system and its peripherals to a machine/system model. The tools used are, e.g., an SPC, NC, or drive oscilloscope. Individual measurements may be carried out on a machine using these tools. Using the data that are obtained, it is possible to model individual components, e.g., a hydraulic pump. To do this, the related mathematical model must be selected from the library (if available), or the related mathematical model must be created using mathematical functions (if a library is unavailable). The mathematical model of a component must also be adapted using parameters (coefficients of the applicable function) in a manner such that it corresponds as closely as possible to the component that exists in reality. For example, the delay time between the input signal and the output signal must be measured on the machine and specified as a parameter to the mathematical model.
Using these models—which have been created in a complex manner—control programs such as NC and SPC programs may be tested without using a real machine. It is therefore possible to check the control software for a machine under diverse application conditions. This procedure shortens the start-up time of a machine or system considerably.
This adaption of machine models, e.g., for behavioral simulation, is often not accurate enough compared with the real machine to be simulated. A great deal of effort is then required to improve the machine model. This results in long development times and high development costs.
A user who only has access to elementary functions requires approximately 2 man-months to create a new machine model for behavioral simulation. This estimate applies for nearly all users who are creating a machine model for the first time and are unable to access a comprehensive component library.
More specifically, the user must create his machine model for every individual component by hand. In the field of behavioral simulation, for example, this means that the user creates the behavior of the individual components using elementary functions (e.g., adders, subtractors, time elements or polynomials of the nth degree, to name but a few) and ascertains the related parameters and/or coefficients on the real machine (parameter identification), and then transfers them to the virtual component. In this manner, the overall behavior of the machine or system is emulated.